Drive shaft housing for outboard motors



April 17, 1951 E. c. KIEKHAEFER DRIVE SHAFT HOUSING FOR OUTBOARD MOTORS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 5, 1947 INVENTOR.

E' -m a C. Msk/msp-s/Q HTTOR/VEV E. C. KIEKHAEFER DRIVE SHAFT HOUSING FOR OUTBOARD MOTORS April 17; 1951 Fil'ed Sept. 5, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 3 A 3 M H (a 'lll l 3 II II I\ I II In] Ill. Hm fi ii I lll Ill ATTORNEY April 1951 E. c. KIEKHAEFER 2,549,479

DRIVE SHAFT HOUSING FOR OUTBOARD MOTORS Filed Sept. 5, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN V EN TOR. 54mm C. liemmerela BY WXZZZ,

A TTORNE Y April 17, 1951 E. c. KIEKHAEFER DRIVE SHAFT HOUSING FOR OUTBOARD MOTORS 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept. 5, 1947 WEE;

FIG. 8

INVENTOR. man C. Mam/Fm BY fl n/ 6 flrraemv April 17, 1951 E. c. KIEKHAEFER 2,549,479

DRIVE SHAFT HOUSING FOR OUTBOARD MOTORS Filed Sept. s, 1947 s Sheets-$heet 5 IN V EN TOR.

ATTUE VE Y Patented Apr. 17, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DRIVE SHAFT HOUSING FOR. OUTBOARD MOTORS Elmer C. Kiekhaefer, Ged'arburg Wis'.

Application September 5, 1947;, Serial'.No..772,34;4" 7 Claims. (Cl. 1"15"-1-'7) This invention relates to outboard motors and has as its primary object the provision of a generally improved outboard motor.

In the outboard'motor art, it is desirable to use a water system for cooling the engine-a system in which the water is drawn up from the lake or river; then circulated through the water jackets surrounding the. engine cylinders and then expelled back into the. lake or river. In the outboard motor art, it is also desirable to expel exhaust gasesfrom the engine beneath the water'level of the lake or river.

Various types of, constructions are in use com.- mercially today forprovidingwater systems and exhaust systems for outboard motors. Many of these constructions require the use of three or more separate castings with. separate exhaust systems and separate water systems. My inventionv contemplates the use of, two single. piece castings, one of which may be, referred to as machining costs are greatly reduced and the 4 assembling of the outboard motor is facilitated. By utilizing these two single piece castings with the water and exhaust systems incorporated within, said casting, I have made it possible to completely streamline'the exterior of said castings so that no water resisting obstructions appear on the exterior surface of said castings.

Gne important. object of my invention is to provide an underneath structure, commonly referred to in the art as a lower end unit, in which I utilize only two single piece castings which are united, together to form a unitary underneath structure.

Another object is to lubricate the drive shaft and spline.

Another object of my invention is to provide a drive shaft housing consisting of a single piece.

Another. object of nay-invention is: toiprovi'deian;v improved water: cooling; system:

Another object of? my invention is to provide an improved exhaust'system in which relief ports permit" expulsion of exhaust gases when back pressure in the primary exhaust passage be'.

comes so great as to'i'mpair efficient operation of the engine.

Another object is. to provide a novel co-pilot' device for steering in a set course.

Other objects and. advantages will become ap' parent upon reading the following specification and upon examination of the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational sectional view of my outboard motor;

Fig. 2 is a detail sideelevational view of the drive shaft housing; 7

Fig. 3 is a detail front elevational view of the drive shaft housing;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the drive shaft housing;

Fig. 5, is an underneath plan view of the drive shaft housing;

Fig. 6 is a view of the drive shaft housing taken on line 6--6 of Fig. 2;

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary view of the co-pil'ot' device enlarged from Fig; 1';

Fig. 8 is a detail view of the inner end of' the tiller;

Fig. 9 is a detail view of the friction plate to which the inner end of the tiller issecured; V

Fig. 10 is a detail top plan view of the swivel bracket which supports the drive shaft housing and which accommodatesthe co-pilot device;

Fig; 11 is a fragmentary detail front viewv of the swivel bracket;

Fig. 12 is a detail plan view of the spring plate which is a part of the co-pilot device; and" Fig. 13 is a detail view of the clamp plate which is a part of the co-pilOt device.

It will be noted that in Figs. 10 and 13' I have' shown the friction buttons secured to the swivel bracket and clamp plate respectively;' It will also be noted that the sectional views of 'Figs; 1 and? are taken generally on the irregular center iine'as indicatedin Fig. 10. I

In the preferred embodiment of my in'ven} ticn I have shown an outboard motor in which the power unit 2 may be housed in an outer cash1g3, The drive sha'ft'housing 5' is secureddirectly to the'engine block Band" to crankcase 'l :3; means of bolts 8. oneof which is" shown in 1. that Ihaveprovided the upper'endof drive shaft housingfi with an adequate number'of'bolt holes"- 13y referring to' Fig. 4? it will be noted. that'the upper facial extremity ofl drive" 9 for: boltsv 8.

By referring to Fig: 4; it will be noted" shaft housing defines 'a cross sectional area which has substantial width as well as substantial length whereby a large area is provided for supporting the power unit above the drive shaft housing. This is important since the power unit receives its entire support from the drive shaft housing 5.

The drive shaft housing 5 is provided with an opening H at its upper extremity and an opening l2 at its lower extremity and a third opening [3 in mouth piece M. A continuous passage I5 connects each of said openings. It will be noted that the passage I5 is largest in cross sectional area at the opening II and is smallest in cross sectional area at the openings I2 and I3. from opening II to opening i2. It will be noted that passage i5 flares rather sharply outwardly beginning at point I! thereby providing a large cubical area in the upper region of said drive shaft housing 5. This enlarged, cubical area provides an expansion chamber for the exhaust gases immediately after they are discharged from the exhaust ports (not shown) in the cylinders. Said gases then travel through the gradually restricted passage |5 until they are eventually expelled at opening l3.

It will be noted that drive shaft housing 5 consists of a single piece casting having an upper flared region l9, an intermediate convergent re gion 29, and a lower shoe portion 2| which extends outwardly and rearwardly and is inclined slightly downwardly with respect to the intermediate region.20 of housing 5. The housing 5 is provided with a splash guard 22 and an anticavitation plate 23, both of which are cast integrally with said housing. The splash guard serves to deflect the upwardly traveling waves created by the anti-cavitation plate cutting through the water. The anti-cavitation plate 23 in addition to serving the normal function of deflecting water into the propeller blades and preventing voids at the propeller also serves as an underneath closure for shoe 2|. The mouth piece I4 is a downward continuation of the shoe portion 2| and extends beneath the lower face of anticavitation plate 23 so as to overhang the propeller 24. The mouth piece I4 and its opening l3 are directed angularly downwardly and rearwardly with respect to propeller 24 whereby the slip stream of propeller 24 causes an outward suction at orifice |3 thereby causing an aspirating effect on the exhaust gases being expelled at orifice l3.

Drive shaft housing 5 is provided at its front longitudinal edge 26 with a pair of aligned bosses 21 and 28 which are provided with axially aligned internal bores 29 and 30. Said housing 5 has recessed regions 3| and 32 thereby providing fiat bearing faces 33 and 34 with opposed internal bores 35 and 36, the reason for which will be here-- inafter described.

Housing 5 is also provided at its upper end with an internal boss 49 which receives the upper end of tie rod 4|. It will be noted that boss provides the necessary wall thickness to accommodate the opposed bores 35 and 35 thereby serving a double function. Housing 5 is also provided with an internal boss 36 which receives one end of the water inlet pipe 31. An opening 38 in engine block l6 establishes communication between the inlet water pipe 3'! and the water jacket 39 of said engine block 6. Housing 5 is also'provided with an'internal boss 42 which screw-threadedly receives connecting bolt 43.

Said passage I5 is continuously convergent Drive shaft 44 extends through the interior of housing 5 into propeller housing 35. It will be noted that the water pipe 3?, drive shaft 54, tierod 4| and connecting bolt 43 are all located interiorly of housings 5 and 45 so as to eliminate all obstructions which would tend to interrupt the streamlined exterior surface of housings 5 and 45.

It will be noted that the underneath structure consists of only two castings, the drive shaft housing 5 and the propeller shaft housing 45 which are connected together by means of tierod 5| and connecting bolt 43. Thus there are only two castings to be aligned for the assembly of drive shaft 34, tie-rod 4|, bolt 43 and water pipe 3'3. Consequently, the number of machined openings to be aligned are kept at a minimum and machining tolerances need not be held as closely as in the constructions of the prior art. Machining costs are therefore materially reduced and spoilage of parts during the machining operations is reduced to a minimum.

The outboard motor assembly is secured to the transom 56 of a boat between clamp screw 53 and the opposing wall of bracket 59. A bracket 66 is carried by bracket 59 by means of a horizontal pivot pin 54 so as to be swingable up and down relative thereto. Bracket 66 is provided with an elongated cylindrical sleeve portion 6| having an internal bore for receiving pivot pin 62. A pair of bushings 63 and 64 are mounted in bosses 2i and 28 and serve as bearings for pivot pin 62. Said bushings consist of internal and external mating metal sleeves with a rubber sleeve interposed between and bonded to said metal sleeves. Said bushings prevent transmission of vibration to brackets 59 and 69 as well as serving as bearings for pin 62. Sleeve portion 6| has an enlarged portion 67a with a bore 66 for receiving sleeve 67. A friction plate 68 is secured to sleeve 6'1 so as to be rigid therewith. Said sleeve 61 is rotatable in bore 66 of sleeve 6|. A tiller 83 embraces boss 28 and is rigidly secured to friction plate 69 by means of bolts 34 extending through bolt holes 84a and being threaded into holes 84b. It will be noted that the friction plate 68 is supported by means of sleeve 6'! within bore 55. Said friction plate 68 has a U-shaped walled region I99 which embraces housing 5 in the recessed regions 3| and 32 and is connected to housing 5 only through the medium of a pair of compression springs i5! and I92 which are received in the holes 35 and 36 in housing 5 and which are biased against opposite walls of the U-shaped walled region I00, as viewed in Fig. 9. The springs lfil and |62 thus serve to establish connection for steering purposes between drive shaft housing 5 and tiller 83 (which is rigid with friction plate 68) and also serve to prevent transmission of vibrations from housing 5 to tiller 63.

The pin 62 is preferably rotatable within bushings 63 and 6 3 as well as with respect to sleeve 6| and rotation of drive shaft housing 5 relative to bracket 69 is permitted by means of bearing bushings 63 and 64 and sleeve 5|. I prefer, however, to provide a fairly snug fit between bearings 63 and 64 and pivot pin 62 so that rotation of housing 5 relative to bracket 59 is slightly resisted. This snug fitting helps to prevent transmission of vibration from the motor to the boat and also assists in the operation of my co-pilot device which will hereinafter be described. It will be noted that the internal metal sleeves of bushings 63 and 64 are crimped (as at H9 in v Fig.2 '7) to. restrain pin. 62., from 1 up. ands down' movement withinsleeve 6i -Viewirrg-zEig: 10; it: willb'e'noted that bracket ii]? is provided with an. arcuate recessed; region liirproviding a pathof; travel for: friction: plate 6 8; A pressure. plate ll is: rigidly securedi to. brackets fiil by meanszof boltszl2is threaded. into bosses I35 and. extends. through. an opening; 14.:- in. bracket."v 553 so; as tov overhang: the recessed region I6anditheifriction-aplate'68: Theabasesrlfi;

vided a spring-plate 86 which is rigidly: secured to.. pressure: plate i by. means of I rivet?= 8'1. Said spring .plate .in itsintermediateiregi'on preferably rests vadjacentiithe underneath surface .88 of 1 boss 89. Adjacentzscrew. 90. which. is threaded into boss 89 engagesthe: upper surface of the spring plate. 86'. Whenbolt 90 is tightened against spring plate 86, the outer endof said. spring plate urges friction. buttons 19' and 80 toward buttons 11 and 'lfithereby increasing the frietional resistance of said buttons against friction plate 58. In theideal operating condition of my co-pilot device the frictional resistance be tween the friction buttons and the friction plate 68 is such as-to' permit fairly easy rotation of drive shaft housing 5 and the power unit relative to bracket 60 so that there is'no laborious ef fort involved in moving: the tiller 83 for free steering of the boat. resistance between the friction buttons andfriction plate 68 is sufficient to maintainxthe drive shaft housing andpower unit in a fixed-steering A position relative to the boat so-that a .pre-determined steering course for the boat is'maintained when the operator releases his grip on the tiller. It will be noted that the spring plate 836 permits fine adjustment of frictional resistance.

To facilitate easy. steering of the boat with my outboard motor, I provide a construction in which, the steering action may be said to be fully feathered. board motor.- arttmuse the. submerged propeller housing and the submerged portion of the drive,

shaft housing in the manner'of a ruddertthe' entirej powerunit and lower end unit" being swung aboutpivotpin'fl to steer the boat. The knife-like front longitudinal edge 26'of' drive shaft housing 5" cuts'th'e" water in themanner of a rudder. Viewing Fig; 1 it will benoted that pivot pin 62' is substantially parallel. to and is located forwardly ofthe water impinging longitudinal front edge 26 of drive. shaft housing 5. Thus the Water cutting front edge 2.6trails the. steeringpiVot fiz'giving a featheredYSteering action. If the front edge, 2610f housing, 5.,were located ahead of pivot pin 62 so. as to impinge the water ahead of the steering. pivot, .then.a somewhat wagging conditionof'the drive shaft housing and power unit relative to the boat would result, making it laborious to steer the boat.

It is conventional inthe out- However, such frictional Referring. to' Fig. 1; it will.be-notedlthat the water system for my: outboard motor includes water'dnlet ports I05 located .infrontpffthe pro.- peller in the underneath wall of propeller hous ing:45. A'pump H16 forces the water up through passage I01 into water pipe 31, thencewthrough opening..38 into water jackets'39'.

Engine-block 6 is provided with. an. exhaust passage (not. shown). which extends. into .communication with the expansion chamber at the upper endaof housingi. The'engine block 6 .is

a1so provided with awater outlet passage (not said water helping. to. cool. the exhaust-gases which are also expelledthrough passage [5.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be noted that in addi tion tothe primary. underwater. exhaust. outlet I3; I have provided supplementary exhaust out; lets for expelling the exhaust gases above water when back. pressure in passage libecomestoo great. When the motoris. idling, the water enters; passage. 55.? through. orifice l3: and creates pressure which is greater-than thev pressure of the; exhaustga'ses. comingfromthe cylinder ex.+- haust ports thereby preventing escape'of the .exhaust gases through outlet. 13. I.have' therefore provided. bleeder size exhaustiportholesfi i in theupper rearwall of housingfi; the said ports being alwaysabove Water. level... Thus whenv the back pressure in passage i5 becomes toogreat, thev exhaust gases are by=p.assed:through.ports 94: Iilhave. also provided aslot 95.:intheupper end of housing 5-which slotcommunicateswith chamber 9.5? between. plate 51 and. pin. 62.. It is thusrseen; that the exhaust gases. can. escape through; slot 9 5-: and thence through the. internal bore: 91' of pin'liiandiarer expelled atztheoutlot 98.

Referring. to Fig. 1. it. wilLbe, noted that the drive; shaft; 441 extends. through. the interior. of drive shaft housing 5, consequently it; is. con' tinuously; subiectedyto spray of water; which is being; discharged? through. the interior. of the driven-shaft:housingi'while the motoris operating.

Ingorder to. reduce:rustingzandporroding of the drive-shaft, ,I'have: providedia means for. running a1. continuous trickle: of. lubricant down. the en'- tirelength: of .thedrive shaft to keepsaid shaft in.-a;..greasy' or lubricated.condition.- The crank case- 1: which; is secured. to the engine block 6: is provided. at: its; open. end: with a. flange portion 109.; to; which. the cover platetcasting'ffl' is secured; By-wdrilling asmall hole H3. in the castinga 5 2; I:.estahlish: communication between the interior officrank case l and the crankshaft i H; The casting 52 has a downwardly depending hub portion; H2- with an. inwardlyydirected internal annular; shoulder H3; (shown best-in Fig. '7)". The lubricant; which is always present in the interior: of crank: case 1" (said lubricant being. mixed with thezgasoline' that enters through the crank case before being transferred to the explosion chamber of the cylinder), is forced through the passage H9 on the downward compression stroke of the piston H4 and travels along the rotating crank shaft l l I and is eventually expelled at the opening H5 in the hub H2 where it continues to trickle along the rotating drive shaft 44. It can be seen that the rotation of drive shaft 44 causes the otherwise inert lubricant to become spread about over the external surface of drive shaft 44 while gravity causes it to trickle downwardly along said shaft, thereby substantially lubricating the entire shaft,

. It is significant to note that the annular shoulder H5 serves to deflect some of the lubricant toward the spline teeth H6 on drive shaft 44 and the spline grooves H7 in the crank shaft I H and with the presence of capillary action the lubricant works up along the spline grooves and teeth to provide adequate lubrication for same, It is important to note that the passage H0 is largely closed off by the flange I09 of crank case 1 thereby permitting only a small trickle of lubricant to pass through the passage H0 and the size of the passage H0 is small enough so as not to interfere with obtaining the required amount of compression in the crank case for efficient operation of the engine,

Having thus described m invention what I claim is:

1. An outboard motor comprised of a power unit, a drive shaft housing disposed beneath said power unit, a boat engaging member, pivotal means vertically disposed forwardly of said drive shaft housing connecting said drive shaft housing to said boat engaging member, an internal passage in said pivotal means from the upper end thereof opening downwardly, said power unit including a water cooling system discharging into the upper open end of said pivotal means whereby said passage having communication with the water cooling system of the power unit provides for discharge of the water forwardly of said drive shaft housing.

2. An outboard motor comprised of a power unit, a drive shaft housing disposed beneath said power unit, a boat engaging bracket, a pivot pin supported by the boat engaging bracket and pivotally supporting the drive shaft housing relative to the boat engaging bracket, a passage extending through said pivot pin, said passage having communication with the water cooling system of the power unit and said passage having restricted communication with the exhaust system of said power unit. 3. In an outboard motor comprised of a power unit, a drive shaft, and a propeller driven thereby;'an exhaust system for said outboard motor including a drive shaft housing having a downwardly converging internal passage extending therethrough and opening into the lower end of said housing, said passage having communication with an exhaust opening of the power unit, the opening in the lower end of the housing being the primary outlet for exhaust gases from the power unit, secondary outlets for exhaust gases, said secondary outlets including bleeder size holes in the upper rear wall of the drive shaft housing and in the upper forward Wall of the drive shaft housing.

4. An outboard motor comprised of a power unit, a drive shaft and a propeller driven thereby, a drive shaft housing disposed beneath the power unit, a boat engaging member, means for supporting the drive shaft housing and power unit relative to the boat engaging member, said drive shaft housing having an internal passage opening into the upper and lower ends of said housing, said lower opening being normally submerged in water during operation of the outboard motor, said internal passage having communication with an exhaust opening of the power unit, the lower opening in said drive shaft housing being the primary outlet for exhaust gases from the power unit, an internal passage in the aforementioned supporting means, a secondary exhaust outlet comprised of an opening in the upper non-submerged forward wall of the drive shaft housing, said last opening having communication with the internal passage in the supporting means.

5. An outboard motor comprised of a power unit, a drive shaft and a propeller driven thercby, a drive shaft housing disposed beneath the power unit, a boat engaging member, a pivot pin disposed adjacent to but exteriorly of the drive shaft housing and being adapted for pivotally supporting the power unit and drive shaft housing relative to the boat engaging member, and exhaust passage within the drive shaft housing and having an outlet at the lower end normally submerged under water, an internal passage in the pivot pin, a secondary exhaust outlet in the nonsubmerged portion of the drive shaft housing, said secondary exhaust outlet having communication with the internal passage in the pivot pin.

6. An outboard motor comprised of a power unit, a drive shaft and a propeller driven thereby, a drive shaft housing disposed beneath the power unit and having its upper end open toward the power unit, a crankcase, a plate interposed between the crankcase and drive shaft housing to close off the housing relative to the power unit, a chamber on the crankcase side of said plate having communication with the water system of the power unit, an enclosed passage adjacent to but exteriorly of the drive shaft housing, an opening in said plate, said opening being in registry with the enclosed passage for expulsion of water from the power unit.

7. An outboard motor as set forth in claim 6 wherein there is an exhaust opening adjacent the plate and extending through the wall of the drive shaft housing into communication with the enclosed passage.

ELMER C. KIEKI-IAEFER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 20,961 Irgens Jan. 3, 1939 1,146,427 Hult et a1 July 13, 1915 1,161,935 Heck et al. Nov. 30, 1915 1,166,523 Hult Jan. 4, 1916 1,576,237 Dawson Mar. 9, 1926 1,661,369 Irgens Mar. 6, 1928 1,671,387 Trotman May 29, 1928 1,762,957 Buehner June 10, 1930 1,786,835 Evinrude Dec. 30, 1930 1,824,735 Johnson Sept. 22, 1931 1,987,906 Irgens Jan. 15, 1935 2,024,193 Watkins Dec. 17, 1935 2,082,059 Irgens June 1, 1937 2,442,728 Kiekhaefer June 1, 1948 2,460,419 Kincannon Feb. 1, 1949 

